31/10/2016 09:15
Anticipation mounts ahead of historic CL debut for Ukraine’s Khimik YUZHNY
2017 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women
Yuzhny, Ukraine, October 31, 2016. Ukraine’s Volleyball family is looking forward to a historic moment when on Tuesday night the country’s national champions Khimik YUZHNY will make their debut in the CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women playing Russia’s Dinamo KRASNODAR. The last time a Ukrainian team participated in Europe’s elite competition was in 2004 when Lokomotiv KHARKIV finished their campaign in Pool D in fifth place after recording two wins. Actually Khimik YUZHNY are Ukraine’s first team to ever take part in the women’s CEV Volleyball Champions League even though Iskra LUGANSK won a couple of bronze medals back in the 90’s (1995 and 1996) when Europe’s premier competition was still contested under the previous denomination and format known as CEV Champions Cup.
On Saturday representatives of Khimik joined a media meeting held at the press conference room of FSK Olymp hall in Yuzhny – the same venue which is being used by the basketball team competing in the FIBA Champions League.
Andriy Romanovych, head coach of Khimik, said: “All members of our team have been thinking about this debut for quite some time. This is a major event in the life of every player and of the club – as well as for the city of Yuzhny and Ukraine’s Volleyball family as a whole. This match represents the opportunity to deliver a real party for our fans but it will also be a serious test because Dinamo KRASNODAR have a very experienced team and their roster includes world-class players. We have been working really hard to scout our next opponent by identifying their strong and weak points. The match will show to which extent what we have been doing during our training will be paying off.”
Team captain Daria Stepanovska added: “The matches against Dinamo KRASNODAR are a great opportunity for us and we want to use it to the fullest. Over the last four years Khimik always made it at least to the quarterfinals of the European Cups. We want to show that Khimik deserve their place in the Champions League as well. We got a first feeling of what the Champions League is all about four years ago when in the CEV Cup we played the 2012 Champions League gold medallists of Fenerbahce. Back then we claimed a 3-2 victory in Turkey, and this proves that we can put up a fight against Dinamo KRASNODAR as well.”
The match with Khimik will coincide with a historic debut in the CEV Volleyball Champions League also for Dinamo KRASNODAR. The two-time winners of the CEV Volleyball Cup travelled to Ukraine after playing a match of the Russian national league on October 29 in Nizhny Tagil. They first went to Ekaterinburg and flew to Odessa via Moscow and Istanbul, arriving two days before their matchup with Khimik.
Konstantin Ushakov, head coach of Dinamo, said: “We have very little information about Khimik and that’s why I find it hard to predict how the match will develop. We did not start the season in the best way because we have had little time to work together and now we have a busy calendar with many matches. At this stage we have played four matches in our national league and had only three friendlies before the start of the season whereas, as far as I know, Khimik could play more than we did. However, we want our fans in Krasnodar to witness as many Champions League matches as possible this season, so this is our goal.”
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